


That Song

by terma_archivist



Category: Once a Thief (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-08-09
Updated: 1999-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26535166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terma_archivist/pseuds/terma_archivist
Summary: Victor thoughts while driving to work. Sequel to Losing Control.
Relationships: Victor Mansfield/Mac Ramsey
Collections: TER/MA





	That Song

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alicettlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [TER/MA](https://fanlore.org/wiki/TER/MA) and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2019. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [the TER/MA collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/terma/profile).  
> Fandom: Once a Thief Pairing: Victor/Mac Rating: R Sequel to Losing Control which can be found here Date: August 9, 1999 Feedback: All kinds cheerfully accepted Disclaimer: Not mine. I couldn't afford the upkeep. Notes: The title comes from a tune called ""That Song"" by Big Wreck and I've had this vague idea for a while and didn't know quite what to do with it. But this is not a songfic—there are no lyrics, no song titles, not even a suggestion of what might be playing on Victor's radio. Big thanks to Mouse for beta, and Nicole S. for beta and for the tape. For Orithain and Aries. They know why.

  
**That Song  
by Amy B**

  
In a surprisingly good mood, Victor hummed along with the radio as he accelerated out of the entrance ramp and onto the 401. The song currently playing always made him think of Li Ann, but it was a good memory now instead of the slightly bitter feeling he'd gotten after their break up. She loved this band, and he'd surprised her with a trip to Montreal for a concert one weekend. Even though it hadn't been his kind of music, he'd had a great time just because it had made Li Ann so happy. He'd often done things that he didn't enjoy on their own merits just to make her smile. 

Now that he could look at their relationship with a degree of objectivity, he noticed the small signs—moments of doubt, pangs of insecurity—that maybe the two of them weren't meant to be a forever thing. But at the time, he'd certainly thought so. Li Ann's telling him that she wasn't ready for marriage came as quite a surprise to him. He wished that she'd come to that conclusion _before_ he proposed, but at least he hadn't been dragged through a messy divorce—just a sad little "I'm sorry. It's not _you_. It's _me_." Yeah, right, whatever. Like he hadn't heard that one before. 

Victor laughed quietly as he remembered the look on her face when he barged into Mac's apartment, chastising the man for leaving his bed prematurely. He hadn't known that Li Ann was there, and when he did notice her standing in the kitchen listening, wide-eyed and speechless, he'd almost died of embarrassment. It was a couple of days later—after spending almost the entire weekend in bed with Mac—that he saw the humor in the situation. After a rather uncomfortable Monday morning conversation, she'd taken it fairly well that her two male partners, each one a former lover of hers, had begun a sexual relationship with each other. 

And what a relationship it was. If someone had told Victor a year ago that he'd be happily making love with Mac Ramsey every chance he got, that someone would have been picking their teeth up off the floor. The impulse —the desire for Mac—had been there all along, but Victor had never thought he had a chance so he'd sublimated it with cutting comments and competitiveness. On the surface, he'd been competing with Mac for Li Ann's attention, but it was just as possible that he'd been trying to draw Mac's attention away from Li Ann and onto himself. 

Changing lanes to pass a slow moving car, Victor sang along with the radio for a minute or two and then hummed to himself when the song ended and an advertisement for a local nightclub came on. The nightclub was new and supposedly on the cutting edge of cool right now. He wondered if Mac might like to go to there sometime. Probably, he thought. Mac loved places like that—crowded with people, loud music, flashing lights. All the things that Victor found nerve wracking in one convenient location. If Mac wanted to go there, Victor would go and he'd have a good time making Mac happy, because after the music and the dancing and crowds, Mac would take Victor home and make _him_ happy... very happy... scream-his-throat-raw-and-rip-the-sheets-off-the-bed happy. 

Victor shifted in his seat, and rolled the window down. He was on his way to work, and it wouldn't do for him to be aroused when he got there. He would be very uncomfortable if he allowed his body to react to the images of Mac that his mind kept throwing at him. Images of what all Mac would do to Vic, if only Victor would ask. Leaning his head against the window frame, Victor allowed the rush of cool morning air to wash the heat from his cheeks. He tried to think of something besides Mac. Think about hockey or baseball, instead of Mac's mouth—all sweet breath, luscious lips, and sarcastic remarks. 

When he really considered it, Victor was surprised that Mac was such a good kisser. It had been his experience that the really beautiful people just didn't try as hard to please their partners. They were so used to being universally adored that they seemed to expect lovers to please _them_ just for the privilege of having their beauty. Li Ann had unconsciously been that way to a minor degree, but not Mac. He threw himself into everything he did, and kissing was no exception. When Mac had his lips on Victor, Vic never had to wonder about what else might be going through Mac's mind. He was totally focused on his lover, and he truly enjoyed kissing in and of itself and not as a necessary means to an end. 

Victor licked his lips and thought about the night last week when he'd come home to find Mac sprawled on his couch, muttering dire threats against Dobrinsky and all his five hundred cars. Victor knew the Director's right hand man didn't have that many cars, but it must have seemed like it to Mac who'd spent the afternoon washing, waxing, and vacuuming them. He'd complained vociferously that he was a full agent now and didn't deserve such menial punishment for such a minor infraction as insulting Dobrinsky's favorite football team. But with the Director out of the office, Dobrinsky was in charge and his word was law, so Mac had been too exhausted to do more than snuggle. After Victor had rubbed Mac's sore muscles with liniment, the two men had watched television and made out like teenagers on the couch, kissing for hours until Mac had finally fallen asleep in Victor's arms. 

Noticing he was quickly approaching his exit, Victor straightened up and concentrated on his driving and put the distracting thoughts of his lover out of his mind. He listened to the traffic report on the radio and spit out a curse. A massive traffic jam caused by an overturned truck meant he'd have to take a circuitous route to get to the Agency headquarters. He was already running late because he'd spent the night at Mac's place without planning ahead and bringing a change of clothes with him; he'd had to go by his apartment this morning for fresh clothes. A shower shared with Mac had further delayed him. Although the pleasure they'd also shared made being late worth the trouble he'd surely get into, Victor decided that it might be a good idea to keep some clothes at Mac's apartment for just such occasions. He'd tell Mac to bring a couple of suits over to his place too. Nothing major, a few shirts, some casual clothes for the weekends... 

Once he was off the highway, Victor rolled up to a stop sign, carefully looking both ways before proceeding. What was he thinking? The clothing exchange was the start of a slippery slope. It would start innocently enough with one change of clothes and before they knew it, someone would utter those fateful words, "This is ridiculous. We might as well move in together." And then he'd be caught in the net like a hapless dolphin. Was he ready for that? He and Mac already spent an inordinate amount of time together outside of work. 

Victor tried to imagine what life with Mac would be like. A cleaning lady would be a necessity unless Victor wanted to take the job because Mac was not a naturally neat person. Victor's eight tracks, cassettes, and albums would be sharing shelf space with Mac's CD's of that weird caterwauling that the younger man called music. His jeans and work shirts would be crowded out of the closet by expensive designer suits. He'd sleep next to a warm body every night without having to make any prior arrangements and without the "your-place-or-mine" discussion. He'd wake up to Mac's grumbling until he got that first cup of coffee and then the brilliant smile when the caffeine kicked in. Victor would also have the privilege of identifying himself as part of a couple again. He and Mac were trying to keep a low profile right now, which meant trying to act like they barely tolerated each other at work. Obviously, Li Ann knew because they had told her. The Director knew because of her penchant for spying on her agents, but no one else at The Agency knew as far as Victor was aware. No one treated him or Mac any differently than they had before the two men became lovers. 

Imagining what life _without_ Mac would be like was very easy. Victor had many years of experience to draw on—lonely years of revolving relationships, hoping that each new lover would be the _one_ and hurting when each one became an ex-lover. After Li Ann, his expectations had lowered to the point where he was willing to settle for nearly anything, just so he wouldn't be alone anymore. He said a little prayer of thanks that Mac had come along when he did, returning his feelings and giving him what he needed. With Mac, the only "settling" Victor considered doing was "settling down". He snickered at the sappy thought, and turned the radio up a notch. 

One kilometre more and he'd be at work, and he'd have to treat Mac like any other nuisance. What Victor really wanted to do was grab him and kiss him and drag him into the restroom to see if he'd bothered with underwear today. He'd rushed out of Mac's apartment that morning leaving the younger man wrapped in his bathrobe, still dripping from the shower. Victor's breath hitched in his chest as he remembered the look of unbridled affection in Mac's warm dark eyes as he'd kissed Victor goodbye. 

The bluesy rock music coming from the radio perfectly matched the hard pounding of Victor's heart as he pulled into the Agency parking lot. Ignoring the fact that he was late for work, he let the truck idle for a moment as the song played on, evoking memories of hot wet kisses drawing patterns of fire across his skin and images of long limbs tangled together in silky soft sheets. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply to quell the arousal easing through him like the leisurely crawl of molten lava. He couldn't go inside and face his coworkers with an erection threatening the zipper of his jeans, so he tried to think of anything besides Mac or sex. 

He focused on the song playing on the radio, letting the music wash over him but also paying attention to the lyrics. He groaned in frustration as every single word made him think of Mac, the one subject he was trying to avoid. He turned off the radio and then the truck with three thoughts in mind. One, he was going to take Mac away for a private intimate lunch, even if he had to kidnap him. Second, he was going to stop on his way home and buy the CD with that song on it, so he could play it while making love to Mac. And the third thought on his mind was telling Mac he loved him. 

* * *

Fandom: Once a Thief   
Pairing: Victor/Mac   
Rating: R   
Sequel to Losing Control which can be found here: [broken link removed]   
Date: August 9, 1999   
Feedback: All kinds cheerfully accepted at [email removed]   
Disclaimer: Not mine. I couldn't afford the upkeep.   
Notes: The title comes from a tune called "That Song" by Big Wreck and I've had this vague idea for a while and didn't know quite what to do with it. But this is not a songfic—there are no lyrics, no song titles, not even a suggestion of what might be playing on Victor's radio. Big thanks to Mouse for beta, and Nicole S. for beta and for the tape.   
For Orithain and Aries. They know why.   
Summary for archive: Victor thoughts while driving to work. Sequel to Losing Control.   
---


End file.
